Wow! I’m on my way home from RTV virtual tour software Conference 2012 and had no idea what I was in for when I whined in my previous Blog about the huge hassle it is to get to Traverse City from Albuquerque. Apparently it only takes one little tornado to throw a wrench into your plans to get home. Oh, Boo hoo!

I thought there might be trouble early on when Brian received a prerecorded message at 1:30 that his 7:30pm flight out of TC was cancelled. Quickly checking my flights status I learned that it was “on time”. Well that was not to be the case. Getting to the airport with the Hotel shuttle would prove to be the easy part of this trip. My traveling companions on the first leg of the trip, Nancy, Patty, Kristin and Carole soon found out that our 3:30 departure to Chicago was delayed multiple times until finally departing at 7:30. BTW Kristin looked Marvelous!

We were not the only RTV conference attendees inconvenienced by the weather. Arriving at the airport there were many getting back on the shuttle to the hotel because their earlier flights were cancelled. Now under normal circumstances this would be just a minor inconvenience. Yes, there’s the added expense of another nights hotel stay, the extra Margaritas at the hotel Bar & of course the extra day of seeing some of the hottest girls ever walking around Traverse City! (well I didn’t get the pleasure of that inconvenience since my flight did eventually take off for the windy city) Anyway, I digress. The real inconvenience is the delay and anxiety of not being able to get home to implement the many things learned at the 2nd Annual RTV Conference!

Yes! RTV hit it out of the park this year! The conference was a huge success Hosted by the RTV team led by Jacque Burque , they provided a stellar program  of  learning modules starting with the Star of the Conference “RTV Fusion” Jason LaVanture  reveled and unbelievable 57 new features to the Virtual Tour Software system! When launched in the next few weeks, it will be the quickly become the Gold standard of Virtual Tours.

We then enjoyed an introduction by Ben Knoor to 360 Spherical Tours. This will be a whole new ball game in the Virtual Tour sphere. Friday night offered a great dinner/ awards/dance party with a great buffet dinner followed by  awards going to Glen Farrell, Nancy Bain, Jim  Plessinger, Clarence Samelko, ( there may be more but I had some wine so I forget) Then some of us danced! Until the DJ abruptly stopped Rock Lobster in it’s tracks!! How dare he? Doesn’t he know he’s there for us?? Well, I’ll get over it.

Marketing Superstar Jason LaVanture offered up some great ideas to increase business and profits & ideas on how to close the sale. Ben showed the newbie’s how to shoot a Virtual Tour. Donna Biggs took us through the PhotoShop editing with many interesting techniques to enhance our images. And Chuck Gullett offered some advanced techniques for getting a great image , he even shared with us his “Commode Mode” which I will defiantly be trying on my next tour!

There was a lot more with some great meals,  snacks and networking  in-between. The outstanding presentation was soon to be a distant memory as we arrived in Chicago to a massive crowd of unhappy travelers all stranded by delayed or canceled flights. Brought on by what I would later find out was a Tornado south of the city. It is impossible to describe the feeling when you walk off a plane to find thousands of people on line in the same predicament a you, waiting to be rebooked and only 2 or 3 customer reps at the counter. Helplessness comes close.

At the end of the huge line, a rep was handing out info with an 800# and 40% off hotel vouchers…that was our only recourse. Disheveled, Dejected and Disappointed I sat on the floor, pulled out my laptop and phone and tried to make contact with the airline….LMAO! It was not to happen. I decided I would spend the night in the airport. Soon Patty & Nancy walked by, saw me and eventually convinced me a Hotel would be best. Long story short, (I know, I know, too late) Got a flight out in the morning and was home by 1pm.

Was it all worth it? Well hell yeah!  I met some great new friends and caught up with some old ones, learned a lot and had a blast. More importantly I was overwhelmed by the help and advice offered by others to enhance business at the conference and help offered in time of need and desperation at the airport . All  creating a renewed faith in mankind and at the same time creating Fusion between Friends & Business.

P.S. We love you Bobby Goolsby…You are our favorite friend!